Running Tales from Kenya – Iten, the recipe for Success
[Article by Ross Henderson, who has spent over 4 years living in Kenya amongst top runners.]
As I sat in the waiting room at Riadha House, Nairobi, Kenya, the HQ of Athletics Kenya, an elderly Kenyan man came in and greeted me, then without any encouragement said, “if you want to beat the Kenyans, you have to live and train with them”.
Kiwi twins, Jake and Zane Robertson and more recently Julien Wanders of Switzeralnd are doing exactly that. Since setting up base in Iten, Kenya between them, they have broken a number National distance running records for their respective countries.
So as a runner, I ask myself, “What do they do, what do I do differently, when living and training in Iten? What are the Kenyan athletes doing differently and what is their mindset?”
Motivation:
We all have our reasons for running: the solitude and peace it can provide, to lose some weight or to keep in shape, the social aspect of belonging to an Athletic Club, to get fit enough to finish a city marathon, to see how fast we can run for a particular distance, to represent our country, to compete at the highest level possible.
The most unlikely reason a non-African will start running is: they start running with intention of making a living from it.
Kenyans are the exact opposite.
The number one reason Kenyans run, is to earn a living. They know that, if they ‘make it’, they can literally run their way out of poverty.
They have seen their countrymen go from sleeping on the floor and having little to eat, to owning their own house, car, cows, apartments that they can rent out, being able to afford the school fees so their children can attend the best schools, etcetera.
The motivation that poverty provides the Kenyan athlete with cannot be duplicated.
Genes:
Genetics plays its part. In most sports you need a certain amount of natural talent to make it to the top. Distance running is one of those sports.
Not all Kenyans have been blessed with a gift to run. However it is well documented that when it comes to distance running, that those from the sub tribes that make up the Kalenjin tribe, have an unmatched pedigree.
Altitude:
I cannot question the benefits of training at altitude.
Due to the hilly terrain, depending on where in Iten you are running, the altitude is generally between 2,300-2,400 metres. Some say the ideal altitude, for distance runners to train at.
It is not uncommon for athletes to travel to even higher altitudes to train. You also have the option of travelling down the valley to a lower altitude for some faster work, if that’s what your training requires.
For someone like me who lives in Australia, how can I train at an altitude of 2,400 metres when the highest point in the land of the Kangaroo sits at 2228 metres? I can’t!
In addition to the obvious benefits of altitude training I have come to the conclusion that training at altitude prevents injuries and thus setbacks in training.
It is simply not possible to run the times for distance events at high altitude that you are able to run at sea level. What this means is that while you might be gasping for air at 2,400 metres, your muscles will always have a bit left in the tank.
A Physiotherapist in Kenya would go broke if they were to rely on income from athletes with muscle injuries.
Surface:
There are a couple of benefits of running on the dirt roads/tracks of Iten. One is gained from the unevenness of the surface. The other benefit gained is by the give in the surface.
By running on an uneven surface you develop muscles in the legs that cannot be developed by constantly running on an even surface.
After three plus months of running the dirt routes of Iten, I developed calve muscles that I didn’t know I owned, my ankles got stronger and the body learnt to roll with the unevenness of the ground.
As you run you are always on the lookout for that protruding rock or root, the rocks and roots that in the past, had floored me. My alertness and reaction time had to improve by necessity and it did.
It was not until I returned to running on the tarmac, after many months of running on dirt roads, that I realised how much harder the asphalt is.
Training on softer surfaces prevents injury. The Kenyans have known this for decades. They avoid running on the few tarmac roads Iten has, whenever they can.
Sleep/Rest:
If you attempt to train at the intensity that the Kenyans do, without adequate sleep and rest you are inviting fatigue and injury. The Kenyan athlete is either training, sleeping, eating or washing their running shoes but mostly sleeping.
When the Great Britain team is in Iten for a training block, you will be lucky if you can find any of them, during the mid-afternoon hours.
Approach to Training:
Kenyans are not perturbed if they miss a training session. Some will simply not train if they are not feeling well or are too tired. The Western athlete seems to worry about the fitness they might lose if they miss one day of training.
The Kenyan athlete is probably adding to their longevity and avoiding injury by taking a day off when their body tells them to.
Running at the elite level requires discipline and that includes the discipline to give your body a rest or an easy day. Some Western athletes find this a hard thing to do.
Many of Kenya’s elite athletes do not train on Sundays, for religious reasons.
Lifestyle:
Daylight and Sunlight hours are pretty much split evenly, all year round. Roughly: Sunrise 6:30 am – Sunset 6:30 pm. This provides an ideal environment for the perfect sleeping pattern.
There are no traffic lights in Iten, no one hour drives to get to the park or forest to meet for a group run. People simply leave their homes and walk or run to one of the many meeting places. Training then commences.
The warm-down in most cases is the walk home. No time is wasted travelling to and from training venues. This leaves more time to regenerate.
The local markets provide food that is fresh and healthy. The closest thing you will find to junk food in Iten town is samosa and soda.
Kenyan’s just seem know what they lack in their diet. Extra sugar in their chai (tea) is example of this.
Massages are inexpensive and are readily available.
There is always someone to train with. For example: Every Thursday morning a fartlek session is held. Anyone can join in, or should I say, start with the group. More often than not, in excess of 100 athletes are in attendance.
Train Hard:
No one trains harder than a Kenyan athlete and the training is often done in highly competitive groups. Almost all the training is done at high altitude, over hilly terrain and on rough surfaces.
Kenyan athletes are confident in their ability and believe that if they persist, one day, their pay-day will arrive.
Unfortunately, not everyone gets that pay-day. That’s another story, for another day.
